Perfection
by Laura Jeanne
Summary: Love isn't always at first sight, it isn't always easy, and sometimes, it hurts. This is a Niles/CC one-way oneshot, folks. Also, it's kind of depressing.


Have you ever seen something that comes together perfectly? Something that's breathtakingly beautiful, stunning, greater than the sum of its parts? Something that's flawless from every angle, every aspect so immaculate that you can do nothing but stare and admire when in its presence.

Niles felt that way more and more often lately. Sometimes, after tidying up a bathroom, he would lean back and take in the sparkle and shine. Sometimes when he saw Mr. Sheffield and Miss Fine making eyes at each other, he felt a warm smile stretch across his face as he soaked in the joy of their obvious love for one another.

Yes, that intangible something, that indescribable feeling of watching something beautiful, perfect, precious, right before your very eyes. It had always made Niles feel complete. He never lost sleep over his career, his social life, his future. As long as he had that wonderful feeling.

And then there was CC, that mess of a woman. He watched and listened every day as she tried inching closer and closer to Mr. Sheffield, attempting to worm her way into his life. It was quite an amusing show for Niles. And their verbal battles were more invigorating than the best ping-pong match.

There was something off about it, though. It wouldn't be right to say that CC filled a hole that had always been there before she stomped into the Sheffield home. More like, a hole was slowly forming. A little bubble in Niles' spirit, so to speak.

It was easy enough to ignore, most of the time. When CC wasn't in the room, he didn't have to think about it at all. But it was building itself up in pieces all along. It started with the hair.

Mr. Sheffield and CC were in the office negotiating a new star or a new writer or something or the other, like any other day, and Niles happened to be there, and just when CC tossed him the perfect setup, he would respond with a sizzling one-liner with the strength of a punch in the face. This exact scenario repeated itself over and over, exactly the same but for one difference: time was slowing down.

Specifically, when CC snapped her head around to respond to Niles' witty comment (if she could) or just to glare at him. That moment, which took all of 0.2 seconds, was dragging itself out longer and longer each time, until Niles swore he could count the individual strands of blonde hair on CC's head. The way her short cut grew a little bit longer each time he saw her, and the way it fanned out, swishing in the still air of the leather-scented office until it fell lightly upon her shoulders. Or maybe it was something about its perfect shape, the clean and straight edge of the cut, or maybe it was the shine of the pale, silky color under those lights.

Either way, it didn't really strike him as odd that CC's hair, which he had never once noticed before, was suddenly the most divine, goddesslike hair in the world. It only cost him about half of a second in the time it took him to process and respond to her inevitable comeback.

He almost- almost- got used to this. The graceful, poetic motion of CC Babcock's hair was being joined by a newly disarming feature of hers. Her face was framed by all that hair, of course. Even when her eyes were staring daggers at him (which they always were, without fail) they had this peculiar depth to them. The lashes of her lower eyelids formed the strangest little curves that cupped her blue irises like little pools of water. Perhaps it was cheesy and played-out, but when she turned her head, just like yesterday and the day before, her eyes swiveled around to meet him more smoothly than a ballet dancer.

The rest of her features were soon to follow. It was silly, strange, mad even, but like hard strokes of paint, her eyebrows cast a shadow over those blue eyes in the most captivating way. Her nose didn't have to be dainty and princesslike to look as if it was carved by a master sculptor. Her lips, always pursed into an expression of disdain, were soft and pink and just like little cushions.

It wasn't as if Niles was standing there, awestruck by all this beauty that had crept up on him like a butler to a keyhole. He was still at the top of his game. He only had to stop one or two seconds before dishing out another plate of Niles-brand wit.

CC pivoted around to face him, placing her hands on her hips and openly scowling at him. There was something about the way her shape flowed from chest to waist to hips that gave him pause for just the littlest of moments. Even under an enormous, padded jacket, there was a certain solidness of form that he had to appreciate, an anchor tying an immortal being to the earth. And her legs he began to notice too, bare beneath the cut of her modern business skirt, strong legs that might be as hard as iron to the touch, everlasting like a marble statue.

Niles had always overlooked her, never felt wrong in referring to her as an old bag. But even with CC's surprisingly lovely form, he was still the same Niles as ever. It only took him, say, five seconds and he was hitting the ball back into her court with the force of a prize batter.

All this time, he didn't realize what was going on. The final realization didn't have the courtesy to gradually worm its way in like CC's perfection did. Nor did it slap him across the face like Miss Fine's grating accent did.

It happened one day. CC said her part, and Niles said his, and CC turned around, indignant as ever, and Niles' gaze slid across her from golden hair to round eyes to strong hips, and in an instant, everything fell into place.

Niles had kissed those lips before. They had both been drunk, so he wasn't expecting a repeat occurrence any time soon. But he remembered it well. It was the diamond in the ring that was CC. It took the beautiful parts of CC and tied them together, made them complete.

It was the fact that those lips didn't yield. CC didn't melt into a soft, stereotypical girl even in the most passionate of kisses. She remained firm, strong, and fought back with twice as much vigor. And all of the biting comments that crossed her lips were part of the magic. A rose without a thorn was too mild. It would fade away in an instant. Never CC.

She turned to face Niles, and said something that he couldn't even hear. For whatever reason, he had this ringing in his ears. It was coming together. The thoughts had been there for a long time, they just hadn't solidified until this one day, this arbitrary day. He realized it.

He was looking at the most beautiful woman in the world. And he had her full attention. She was looking right into his eyes, watching, waiting for him to respond to whatever she had called him.

She didn't look like a model or a celebrity by any means. She would not be considered a conventional beauty. Nor had Niles ever considered her his "type". And yet somehow, no one would ever be more perfect than she was.

And so, that little bubble that had formed inside of him, that had grown bigger and bigger every day, popped. It hurt in his veins, in his heart. It hurt to look. It hurt to, without warning, see the rival become the idol in one brief instant. It was too much, too great a reversal to handle all at once.

CC was staring. Mr. Sheffield was staring. How many seconds were passing? One, two, three, four, five, ten, fifteen.

"A-" CC began, her usual expression of hostility turning into one of concern.

"So are you," Niles interrupted, hoping he had hit the mark somehow. Maybe he hadn't. CC gave him the strangest look, then turned back to Mr. Sheffield to resume their conversation. The back of her hair was once again facing Niles.

No, it was then that the knife went in. Only Niles saw that CC was perfect. None of her stupid boyfriends ever saw it. She herself didn't see it, which might have been worst of all. There she was, turning, turning, her attention no longer on Niles.

It hurt, it hurt to lose her gaze, as she turned back to Mr. Sheffield, and Niles remembered that this perfect woman was chasing someone else- not captivated by him at all.

**Author's note: Thanks for reading. This is my first fanfic in quite some time. Please review and be extremely harsh- if you think it's out of character or whatever else, let me know. (If you're wondering about my other fanfic that I was writing like two years ago... Don't worry. I haven't forgotten about it. It will be continued, hopefully soon. ;)**


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